It started with a plea from one friend to another. George Harrison had been close to the legendary Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar
since the mid-’60s, when the Beatle first sought an expert to teach him
to play the multi-stringed Indian sitar. Shankar, older than Harrison
by some 22 years and the acknowledged world master of the instrument,
was from Bangladesh (previously known as East Pakistan) in the South
Asian region of Bengal.
At the time, in 1971, Harrison’s website states,
“The country was ravaged by floods, famine and civil war, which left 10
million people—mostly women and children—fleeing their homes.” Feeling
distraught and wanting to help, Shankar met with Harrison and asked if
he might be able to draw attention to the crisis, and possibly use his
fame to do something to raise some funds for aid. “Yes,” Harrison told
him, “I think I’ll be able to do something.”
In April of 1971, Harrison went to work recruiting friends for a
one-time-only concert; by June he had already received commitments from
several of the biggest names on rock. He also arranged for a film and
recording to be made of the event, the proceeds of which would go toward
the cause. The concert date was set for August 1, 1971, two shows
(afternoon and evening) to take place at New York’s Madison Square
Garden. Not only would The Concert for Bangladesh
be Harrison’s first major live appearance since the Beatles quit
touring five years earlier, it would go down as one of the greatest
evenings of classic rock in history.
The lineup was staggering: First, there was Ringo Starr. As if half of the Beatles wasn’t enough of an enticement to fans, Harrison brought in his good friend Eric Clapton, keyboardists Leon Russell and Billy Preston, bassist Klaus Voorman (an old friend from the Beatles’ Hamburg days), Jim Keltner doubling up with Ringo on drums, and a host of others.
The shows began with sets by Shankar and his musicians, followed by
Harrison and his entourage, performing material both from his emerging
solo career (“My Sweet Lord,” “Wah-Wah”) and the Beatles’ catalog
(“While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Something”), as well as showcase tunes
from Starr (“It Don’t Come Easy”), Russell and Preston. Harrison then
brought the house down with “Here Comes the Sun,” his acoustic Beatles
classic.
But the moment that put the Concert for Bangladesh over the top as one for the ages was when Bob Dylan walked out onstage. Like Harrison, he had not performed in public much recently, since a 1966 motorcycle accident
that caused him to reassess his life and career. Dylan, who was
reportedly nervous about playing to such a large audience, arrived
onstage for the first show accompanied by Harrison, Russell (on bass)
and Starr (playing tambourine) and performed five of his greatest
compositions: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “It
Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” “Love Minus Zero/No
Limit” and “Just Like a Woman,” before Harrison and the band closed out
the show. The evening show followed a similar trajectory, with both
Harrison and Dylan making a handful of changes to their set lists:
Dylan, notably, added “Mr. Tambourine Man” in place of “Love Minus
Zero.”
The Concert for Bangladesh, featuring highlights from the two shows, was released at the end of 1971 and rose to #2 on the Billboard album chart, also winning the Grammy for Album of the Year. The film was also a favorite among fans.
Following the Bangladesh concerts, some controversy ensued over the
allocation of the funds but an estimated $12 million ultimately found
its way to aid in the relief efforts over the next decade and a half.
And in the world of rock music, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh is
viewed as a landmark event, the first true large-scale benefit concert
of its type; it would serve as the model for Live Aid and is seen as the
prototype for many other such charitable events even today.
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